Elementary Preservice Teacher's Knowledge of Equity Based Mathematics Instruction
Location
Mathematics Instruction (Session 2 Breakouts)
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Research clearly identifies equity as a concept that represents social justice and fairness, however, many teachers have limited understanding of the concept (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017; MacDonald, 2005). Many studies have been conducted attempting to understand why teachers typically do not regard equitable teaching practices as a priority in the classroom.
In a southeastern primarily teaching university,the researcher taught an elementary mathematics methods course, which was the context of this study. Of the 35 PSTs enrolled in the course 22 were dual certification (special education) and 13 were traditional elementary certification. There was one male student and the rest were female. The researcher met with the PSTs for 15 sessions for 2.5 hours each session. Before taking the methods course the PSTs had taken 1 content course and were enrolled in a second course concurrently with the methods.
The purpose of this study was to examine preservice elementary teacher’s knowledge of equity-based mathematics instruction. When asked about their knowledge for equity-based mathematics instruction all of the preservice teachers in this course expressed no knowledge of equity based mathematics or equity based instruction in mathematics. Several teachers mentioned, “I have no idea what equity-based instruction is, I have never heard of it.” Similarly, other teachers described equity-based instruction as a concept they had vaguely recall hearing but with connection to how it would look in the classroom.
An additional theme that emerged was that many of the PSTs indicated they had not learned anything about equity during their teacher preparation program.
Keywords
Equity, Elementary Mathematics, Preservice Teachers
Professional Bio
Dr. Cliff Chestnutt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Early Childhood through Secondary Education at UWG. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., Dr. Chestnutt was a K-8 teacher and Math coach. Dr. Chestnutt's current teaching and research projects focus on High Leverage Teaching Practices, Culturally Responsive Mathematics, and Equity in Mathematics.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Chestnutt, Cliff and Smith, Andrea, "Elementary Preservice Teacher's Knowledge of Equity Based Mathematics Instruction" (2020). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 17.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2020/2020/17
Elementary Preservice Teacher's Knowledge of Equity Based Mathematics Instruction
Mathematics Instruction (Session 2 Breakouts)
Research clearly identifies equity as a concept that represents social justice and fairness, however, many teachers have limited understanding of the concept (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017; MacDonald, 2005). Many studies have been conducted attempting to understand why teachers typically do not regard equitable teaching practices as a priority in the classroom.
In a southeastern primarily teaching university,the researcher taught an elementary mathematics methods course, which was the context of this study. Of the 35 PSTs enrolled in the course 22 were dual certification (special education) and 13 were traditional elementary certification. There was one male student and the rest were female. The researcher met with the PSTs for 15 sessions for 2.5 hours each session. Before taking the methods course the PSTs had taken 1 content course and were enrolled in a second course concurrently with the methods.
The purpose of this study was to examine preservice elementary teacher’s knowledge of equity-based mathematics instruction. When asked about their knowledge for equity-based mathematics instruction all of the preservice teachers in this course expressed no knowledge of equity based mathematics or equity based instruction in mathematics. Several teachers mentioned, “I have no idea what equity-based instruction is, I have never heard of it.” Similarly, other teachers described equity-based instruction as a concept they had vaguely recall hearing but with connection to how it would look in the classroom.
An additional theme that emerged was that many of the PSTs indicated they had not learned anything about equity during their teacher preparation program.
